Noun

(en noun)

That which is done or is to be done; matter; concern; business of any kind, commercial, professional, or public; — often in the plural.

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Any proceeding or action which it is wished to refer to or characterize vaguely.

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(lb) An action or engagement not of sufficient magnitude to be called a battle.

A material object (vaguely designated).

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*:The house was a big elaborate limestone affair , evidently new. Winter sunshine sparkled on lace-hung casement, on glass marquise, and the burnished bronze foliations of grille and door.

*{{quote-book, year=1944, author=(w)

, title= The Three Corpse Trick, section=chapter 5 , passage=The dinghy was trailing astern at the end of its painter, and Merrion looked at it as he passed. He saw that it was a battered-looking affair of the prahm type, with a blunt snout, and like the parent ship, had recently been painted a vivid green.}}

An adulterous relationship (from affaire de cœur ).

Noun

(en noun)

Actual instance where a situation arises.

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=29, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= Unspontaneous combustion , passage=Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia. The cheapest way to clear logged woodland is to burn it, producing an acrid cloud of foul white smoke that, carried by the wind, can cover hundreds, or even thousands, of square miles.}}